GENTLEMAN
OF ROCK 'N' ROLL - Jerry J. Nixon and the Volcanoes (Voodoo
Rhythm) Remember Klaatu, the supposed on-the-QT reformation of the Beatles under another name? It was one of the best musical frauds for, oh, about three minutes. A studio album dutifully appeared before someone wised-up that the alleged Moptops were four
Canucks.
Their, uh, product subsequently disappeared without trace. I reckon Jerry J.
Nixon, British-born New Mexico rockabilly artist whose long-lost tapes have
been unearthed (three years after his death) is operating on a similar wavelength,
but his posthumous album deserves a better fate. Swiss label Voodoo Rhythm are right into 60s punk and retro-gospel trash and, judging by what's surfaced at the Bar to date, are doing it as well, if not better than, just about any label you'd care to name. Stumbling across a treasure trove of primal rockabilly recordings would be a Red Letter Day for them. But this stuff simply sounds too good to be primitive recordings from 1958-64. Plus the surviving member of the Volcanoes, to whose e-mail address you're invited to send questions, appears to live in the Czech Republic. Florida might have been a more plausible retirement destination for a grizzled old rockabilly rebel, so you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work it out.
Ol' Jerry was a British immigrant who drifted into New Mexico, picked up a band and found his way onto the Quality label, a contemporary of Sun Records. Gentleman he might have been but Jerry clocked Q owner, Leonard E. Sanchez, while in the grip of the grog monster. The two never spoke again and Mr Nixon's career went the same way as that of the President of the same surname less than a decade later. That's Voodoo Rhythm's story and they're sticking to it. It's all outlined in the voluminous and well done liner notes. The music's similarly delivered with an attention to detail, much of it recorded in mono and sounding pretty damn authentic, albeit with too much digital clarity.
If you're expecting something demented, you'll be disappointed. This is straight-up rockabilly crooning for the most part, with a few cuts hinting at the beginnings of beat. "Saturday Night Bop" is a sax-enhanced salsa, "Red Sun" a chugging, low key rocker. "Railroad Shuffle" is the up-tempo rocker and "Rip It Up" the obligatory Elvis "Sun Sessions" cop. The Mysterians organ sound on the 1958 recording, "Tonight", is about six years too early. It is on Voodoo Rhythm so we did expect the Legendary Stardust Cowboy to stumble in, blitzed out of his mind on the worm at the bottom of the Tequila bottle. Unashamedly authentic takeoffs don't usually rock our boat, but sometimes you have to admire the dogged determination brought to bear to make something sound "real". Jerry J. Nixon's not our usual fare but this is a pretty good pastiche if you're into the beginnings of rock and roll. - The Barman
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